Profile of the Junior Research Group
Within the Junior Research Group of Neurocircuit Development and Function, which officially started in February 2020, we are engaged in an understanding of how neural circuits involved in the control of energy homeostasis develop and function within complex networks in the brain. Specifically, our lab wants to understand how maternal nutrition and altered maternal metabolism can negatively impact the proper formation of these brain circuits and how it might increase the potential for an earlier onset of brain-related diseases.
With the help of rodent models, we want to assess the effects of an altered maternal diet on development of neural circuits. In parallel to this, we aim to decipher in detail the interactions of the brain’s metabolic circuitry with other critical brain networks. Through understanding more about the food-intake regulating networks and the role of nutrition in the formation of these networks, we can:
- determine critical changes to the brain caused by dietary stresses
- uncover new links between dietary choices and brain development